"10,000 migrants entered Serbia in four months"

"10,000 migrants entered Serbia in four months"

BELGRADE -- Around 10,000 people from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries entered Serbia over the first four months of 2015, according to an NGO.

The Belgrade Center for Human Rights' representatives told a news conference in Belgrade on Monday that the number is expected to exceed 30,000 by the end of the year.

The number of persons entering and passing through Serbia in an attempt to reach the EU has multiplied compared to 2014 and 2013, and this trend is likely to continue, the Center points out.

The majority of migrants come from conflict zones and they are refugees under international standards. In Serbia, they express intent to apply for asylum but instead they continue their journey towards countries of the European Union.

Executive director of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights Vesna Petrovic said that the Law on Asylum needs to be changed.

Senior officer at UNHCR Belgrade Anne-Birgitte Krum-Hansen said that a joint action of countries in the region is necessary in order to help the migrants, adding that the UNHCR is ready to provide assistance.